Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure pertains to a test sample preparation fixture, such as, but not limited to, a grip or grip holder which can be used with soft materials, liquids, gels, compounds, powdered or similar materials. This may be used in connection with bioreactor or materials testing applications, or similar tests involving pouring material into a mold.
Description of the Prior Art
In the field of bioreactors, typical prior art grips from the materials testing field are too big for the sample sizes that are involved.
Moreover, these prior art grips would frequently crush the samples in the bioreactor field as the materials or samples are difficult to clamp between standard grip faces due to their lack of stiffness. The materials or samples may be crushed under very small compressive forces during tensile tests which can lead to test failure or inconsistent test results.
Some bioreactor grips can accommodate small sample sizes in the 1 to 4 millimeter thickness and 1 to 5 millimeter width range. However, these compression grips present flat faces and would crush or tear through gel material samples.
In order to measure very small loads, the grips used to clamp the samples typically must be very light. This allows for the use of small capacity load cells that offer better resolution to detect small load variations generated during the tensile test. If the resolution is too poor, the sample-generated load can get lost in the noise of the load cell or be barely perceptible.
The object of this disclosure is to provide a gripping solution for very low force tensile tests and very soft and compliant materials, such as may be encountered in bioreactor applications. Various elements of the disclosure, such as the material used in their fabrication and their internal surfaces or textures could be changed to modulate the gripping force, weight and applicable test sample materials, without departing from the intent of the disclosure.